Inspector Generals to Review Government's Response to Capitol Attack

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:28 pm

Investigators at the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Defense, and Interior have announced plans to review their respective agencies’ response in response to questions about delays in calling for assistance on January 6, the day President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in a bid to overturn the election results.

“The DOJ OIG review will include examining information relevant to the January 6 events that was available to DOJ and its components in advance of January 6; the extent to which such information was shared by DOJ and its components with the U.S. Capitol Police and other federal, state, and local agencies; and the role of DOJ personnel in responding to the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6,” Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department’s inspector general, announced earlier this morning.

“The DOJ OIG also will assess whether there are any weaknesses in DOJ protocols, policies, or procedures that adversely affected the ability of DOJ or its components to prepare effectively for and respond to the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6,” his statement continued.

The DOJ oversees the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which handled intelligence related to the riots, while the Interior Department oversees Park Police, who responded to the riots. The Defense Department is responsible for calling in the National Guard in the district, which was delayed in its response.

The DHS inspector general’s office will review the department’s intelligence office and the way in which it supplied law enforcement agencies with information related to the attack. Law enforcement components will also be considered as part of the review.

The news of these investigations comes after Congress announced it would pursue its own probe into the events. Several Republican members of Congress, including Representative Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Senators Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Ted Cruz (Texas) have received intense criticism for their roles in not only spreading the president’s baseless claims about election fraud, but going so far as to downplay the magnitude of the attack, which claimed the lives of five people, including a Capitol Police officer who was bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher and later died of his injuries.

President Trump was impeached for the second time during his term in office after the House approved articles of impeachment condemning him for inciting the insurrection. A Senate trial will be held at a later date, sometime after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.